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A28 u.s. news
Diahuebs 5 Mei 2022

Supreme Court draft suggests Roe could be overturned

and minority women will dispropor- In a joint statement from Congress’
tionately bear the burden of the new top two Democrats, House Speaker
restrictions. Nancy Pelosi and Senate Major-
ity Leader Chuck Schumer said, “If
The leak jumpstarted the intense the report is accurate, the Supreme
political reverberations that the high Court is poised to inflict the greatest
court’s ultimate decision was ex- restriction of rights in the past fifty
pected to have in the midterm elec- years — not just on women but on all
tion year. Already, politicians on both Americans.”
sides of the aisle were seizing on the
report to fundraise and energize their New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, also a
supporters on either side of the hot- Democrat, said people seeking abor-
button issue. tions could head to New York. “For
anyone who needs access to care, our
An AP-NORC poll in December state will welcome you with open
found that Democrats increasingly arms. Abortion will always be safe &
see protecting abortion rights as a accessible in New York,” Hochul said
high priority for the government. in a tweet.
Other polling shows relatively few Mississippi Attorney General Lynn
Americans want to see Roe over- Fitch said in a statement, “We will let
(AP) — A draft opinion suggests known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s turned. In 2020, AP VoteCast found the Supreme Court speak for itself
the U.S. Supreme Court could be Health Organization. that 69% of voters in the presiden- and wait for the Court’s official opin-
poised to overturn the landmark tial election said the Supreme Court ion.” But local officials were praising
1973 Roe v. Wade case that legal- The court is expected to rule on the should leave the Roe v. Wade decision the draft.
ized abortion nationwide, ac- case before its term ends in late June as is; just 29% said the court should
cording to a Politico report. or early July. overturn the decision. In general, AP- “This puts the decision making back
NORC polling finds a majority of into the hands of the states, which is
A decision to overrule Roe would The draft opinion in effect states the public favors abortion being legal where it should have always been,”
lead to abortion bans in roughly half there is no constitutional right to in most or all cases. said Mississippi state Rep. Becky
the states and could have huge rami- abortion services and would allow in- Currie.
fications for this year’s elections. But dividual states to more heavily regu- Still, when asked about abortion poli-
it’s unclear if the draft represents the late or outright ban the procedure. cy generally, Americans have nuanced Congress could act, too, though a bill
court’s final word on the matter — attitudes on the issue, and many don’t that would write Roe’s protections
opinions often change in ways big “We hold that Roe and Casey must think that abortion should be possible into federal law stalled in the Senate
and small in the drafting process. be overruled,” it states, referencing after the first trimester or that women after passing the House last year with
the 1992 case Planned Parenthood v. should be able to obtain a legal abor- only Democratic votes.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Casey that affirmed Roe’s finding of tion for any reason.
the “basic fairness and the stability of a constitutional right to abortion ser- At Supreme Court arguments in De-
our law demand” that the court not vices but allowed states to place some Alito, in the draft, said the court can’t cember, all six conservative justices
overturn Roe. While emphasizing constraints on the practice. “It is time predict how the public might react signaled that they would uphold the
that he couldn’t speak to the authen- to heed the Constitution and return and shouldn’t try. “We cannot allow Mississippi law, and five asked ques-
ticity of the draft, Biden said his ad- the issue of abortion to the people’s our decisions to be affected by any tions that suggested that overruling
ministration is preparing for all even- elected representatives.” extraneous influences such as con- Roe and Casey was a possibility.
tualities for when the court ultimate cern about the public’s reaction to
rules and that a decision overturning A Supreme Court spokeswoman said our work,” Alito wrote in the draft Only Chief Justice John Roberts
Roe would raise the stakes for voters the court had no comment, and The opinion, according to Politico. seemed prepared to take the smaller
in November’s heated midterm elec- Associated Press could not immedi- step of upholding the 15-week ban,
tions. ately confirm the authenticity of the People on both sides of the issue though that too would be a signifi-
draft Politico posted, which dates quickly gathered outside the Supreme cant weakening of abortion rights.
“If the court does overturn Roe, it will from February. Court waving signs and chanting on a
fall on our nation’s elected officials at balmy spring night, following the re- Until now, the court has allowed
all levels of government to protect a Politico said only that it received lease of the Politico report. states to regulate but not ban abortion
woman’s right to choose,” Biden said. “a copy of the draft opinion from a before the point of viability, around
“And it will fall on voters to elect pro- person familiar with the court’s pro- Reaction was swift from elected of- 24 weeks.
choice officials this November. At ceedings in the Mississippi case along ficials in Congress and across the
the federal level, we will need more with other details supporting the au- country. The court’s three liberal justices
pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice thenticity of the document.” seemed likely to be in dissent.
majority in the House to adopt legis-
lation that codifies Roe, which I will The draft opinion strongly suggests
work to pass and sign into law.” that when the justices met in private
shortly after arguments in the case
Whatever the outcome, the Politico on Dec. 1, at least five voted to over-
report late Monday represented an rule Roe and Casey, and Alito was as-
extremely rare breach of the court’s signed the task of writing the court’s
secretive deliberation process, and on majority opinion.
a case of surpassing importance.
Votes and opinions in a case aren’t fi-
“Roe was egregiously wrong from nal until a decision is announced or,
the start,” the draft opinion states. It in a change wrought by the corona-
was signed by Justice Samuel Alito, a virus pandemic, posted on the court’s
member of the court’s 6-3 conserva- website.
tive majority who was appointed by
former President George W. Bush. The report comes amid a legislative
push to restrict abortion in several
The document was labeled a “1st Republican-led states — Oklahoma
Draft” of the “Opinion of the Court” being the most recent — even before
in a case challenging Mississippi’s the court issues its decision. Critics of
ban on abortion after 15 weeks, a case those measures have said low-income